The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office is increasing patrols on New Year’s Eve to monitor for people who are drinking and driving.
Putnam County Sheriff Eddie Farris said he and his deputies have had meetings about patrols leading up to New Year’s Eve. Farris said his office is increasing patrols in typical areas that tend to have parties for New Year’s.
“Obviously, we always focus on impaired driving,” Farris said. “We’ve gotta get those folks off the road to make it safe for the good people that is not drinking, make sure they are not in any danger.”
Farris said his office will coordinate with other local law enforcement agencies to make sure the county is covered. Farris said there is nothing wrong with people drinking as part of celebrating New Year’s, but he advises them to have a designated driver or a safe way to get home.
“We don’t expect anything different than what we have been having the past few New Year’s and New Year’s Eve,” Farris said. “But we all know the population certainly has increased here in Putnam County, and a lot of our neighboring friends come and drive into Cookeville to visit friends, and so and so forth for the evening, and all of that is fine. We just need to certainly have a safe manner, whether it is consuming alcohol or obeying the speed limit.”
Farris said Putnam County actually does not have very many accidents. However, Farris said half of the accidents that do happen are due to drunk driving. Farris said, surprisingly enough, most of the calls his office receives during New Year’s are not about drunk drivers.
“Our biggest calls during New Year’s Eve are just loud noise, dogs barking, and people not used to all the traffic, or maybe the music, or whatever is going on,” Farris said. “So thank goodness a majority of it amounts to very little.”
Farris said to be watchful for drivers who struggle to stay in their lane. Farris said his deputies are ready for New Year’s Eve and are hopeful to have a good start to the new year.